Blog
“You must give up the life you planned in order…”
“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell I've always loved that quote because it appealed so strongly to 12-year-old me, the me who carried a copy of Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe...
Sixteen Writers, One Dog and Two Boxes of Gluten-Free Oreos
Sitting in a circle of women, all heading out together into the unknown, is so crazy good, it makes me wonder why don't we all do this? How different would the world be if we all had safe places to tell our stories and stretch into our chosen craft? Hmmm.... Good...
How to Be a Creative Tour de Force
The lovely Michael Margolis recently wrote in a Facebook group I’m part of: "Every community has a collective core wound that's a mirror of its leaders' shadows. What do you see as the collective core wound/shadow of your own work? And the communities you cherish? As...
How I Build My Ideal Work/Life Balance
I admire Racheal Cook because she stands for creating a real business rather than a business based on “look at my fabulous, perfect life — now hire me and I will tell you how to be me.” That’s why I said yes to “The Business That Loves You Back Blog Tour” in which...
How to Be with the Natural Cycles of Expansion and Contraction
I’m fascinated by the natural cycle of expansion and contraction that happen as you grow spiritually and creatively. You venture on a writing retreat, or you disappear into your creative cave, or you hike for miles into the wilderness - and you are changed. You are so...
Self-Care When Writing Hard Stuff
I am writing and it is hard. Emotional. Raw. Messy with a capital M. Add to that the fact that I don't know what this project will become - if anything - which drives the part of me crazy that loves to be of service, and you have a very tender Jen. But here is a cool...
How is life wanting to live you?
In a recent meditation training I attended, our teacher kept asking us different versions of this question: “How is life wanting to live you?" I ate that question up and it made me squirm. I loved the invitation of it - something larger flowing and carrying me, much...
Creating a New Cultural Story
My friend and master coach Michele Woodward introduced me to Brigid Schulte, author of the NYT's bestseller Overwhelmed, when she saw me singing the praises of the book on my Facebook page. I was delighted when Brigid agreed to have a conversation with me about: How...
Please Free Your Body + The Best Music to Move To
I believe in the joy of being in relationship with our bodies. I believe in the transformative simplicity of letting our bodies move the way they desire. I believe we all need to move our bodies in ways that allow our innate energy freedom to express. Really that is...
Navigate Your Life: Laura Berman Fortgang
Laura and I "met" when her publisher asked me to blurb a book of hers. I loved it so much I dragged myself out bed, where I was languishing with bad cramps, to email her something like, "Love it!" We became friends when she shepherded me through my first coaching...
Are you confusing driveways with roads? Or how to see your blinding assumptions.
I was in Portland, Oregon last weekend for a friend’s baby shower. I used my i-Phone to easily find the neighborhood. I felt smug. (I get lost very easily.) I was even on time! But then I could not, no matter what I did, find the actual house. The navigation phone...
Navigate Your Life: Chris Zydel
I first met Chris Zydel a number of years ago (9? 10?) in Taos at my annual writing retreat. This tall, silver-maned goddess walks into the circle, bedecked in glorious turquoise, and I'm like, "Hello, who the heck are you???" Come to find out she is the "Wild Heart...
The Very Best Memoirs I’ve Read Lately
I’ve promised you a monthly resource of some kind, and since I’m reading a ton of memoirs - to help me write what I’m writing (which is memoir-esque) - I decided this month’s resource would be some of my recent faves. I hope you enjoy! Some of these are new books,...
Navigate Your Life: Amanda Stuermer
Amanda Stuermer is a wife, mother, writer, activist, and inspiration junkie - what a wonderful list of things to be! She is also the founder and executive director of World Muse, a social change organization that provides year-round programming to support women and...
The Deep Peace of Trusting Your Rhythms
I attended a yoga and sauna retreat on Sunday led by my friend Amy Kessel. The retreat theme was "planting springtime seeds.” What did we desire to plant in our lives? As I listened to the women’s intentions, I was so struck how many were about pleasure and ease. Not...
You’re afraid, I’m afraid, let’s talk about it over the apples
One day a few years back I was driving my daughter to school, when she said, her voice quavering, “Mommy, I’m just so afraid." My heart broke a little bit. I reached out and grabbed her hand and said, “Oh honey, me too. I’m afraid every single day.” I so wanted to...
Navigate Your Life: Melody Moore
My friend Marianne Elliott introduced me to the wonderful Dr. Melody Moore. She's a Clinical Psychologist who specializes in the treatment of Eating Disorders and is the Founder/Chief Loveologist of Embody Love Movement, a non-profit whose mission is to inspire and...
Find Your Center in a Doodle, in a Mug, in a Mantra…
I admit to having a "dog with a bone" kind of personality. I fall in love with an insight and chew it until it falls apart or yields all its secrets. I also carry it aloft - sharing it with you - as if I had found a precious holy relic or the very best kind of...
The Grace of Learning What I’m Teaching
Backstory: I am someone who fears desire - or more accurately, parts of me fear desire. Young parts of me. Maybe I got the message when I was little that it wasn’t okay to want, that being a “big personality” wasn’t ladylike, that being greedy wasn’t nice... who...
How to Recover from a Vulnerability Hangover or the Let Down of a Big Project
I spent the weekend feeling sad, worn out, and wanting to give up. What?!? "But Jen,” you might say, “You just launched a new offer that is filling up faster than anything you have ever offered - besides Taos - and that you feel so aligned with and clear about, and...
Welcome to My New Website and My New Vision
I have a new website, a new look, and a new vision. Wait: not a new vision. A clarified one. Because that's what we all get to do - I'd even venture to say we must do - in this life. Clarify - what calls us, what we stand for, what we live for - and even what we would...
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